Glad We Did
by Commander
Summary: If she really did have only a few years left to live, she had to make every moment count... and why wait for what her heart was already completely sure of? One-shot.


(AN: I love this movie. So much. Ahem. But you probably already figured that out.

This is just a one-shot that takes place near the end of the movie… a little unseen chapter, if you will. As much as I love Tiana and Naveen together, I wanted to address the wackiness of marrying someone you only just met a few days ago. Here's the result. Please read and review, I appreciate all feedback!

_The Princess and the Frog _and all related characters belong to Disney (and as such they have been sucking up most of my free money on movie tickets and merchandise).

Hope you enjoy!)

…………

Tiana had never handled funerals very well.

Her father's funeral had been a nightmare. Tiana had been eleven years old when he died, a really terrible age to lose a parent, she realized in hindsight; not only did she get the full blow of "Daddy's gone and is never coming back", but it was also coupled with the understanding of "Daddy died before his time, and none of his dreams are ever going to come true". It wasn't just that she and her mama were alone. It was that she, her mama, and the _dream _were alone.

But now, looking up into the night sky and seeing Ray reunited with Evangeline, and Naveen holding her close to his side, Tiana did feel a warm glow. Love always finds a way, it's true. Ray had been right about that.

But what about everything else?

Naveen sensed Tiana grow a little frigid in his arms. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"I'm… I'm just thinking about my mama," Tiana admitted. "I've been gone for awhile now, and after too much longer… she's probably gonna think I'm dead. And I can't bear to put her through that, not after all my siblings died before I was even born, and after my daddy died… I'm all she has left, and now…"

"And now, you're still here," said Naveen. "Tomorrow we can go and find her and let her know you're alright—and hopefully she will not slam any books on us," he added quickly, wincing a bit.

"_That's _gonna comfort her? Seeing me like—like _this? _Sure, I'm alive, but I'm a _frog, _and—and how long do frogs live, anyway?"

"They actually have quite a long lifespan!" said Naveen enthusiastically. "Some frogs have been known to live up to ten years!"

"_Ten years?"_

Tiana tore herself away from Naveen and stared into the dark, murky waters of the bayou intently. "How am I supposed to tell my mama that I'm a frog, and that I've only got at the most ten years more to live? This isn't how it was supposed to happen…"

Naveen also stared at her, but his expression was more forlorn, almost heartbroken. Tiana was, without a doubt, the most amazing person he had ever met—driven, responsible, reaching for the stars with no dream too impossible for her; and yet still caring, compassionate… she wasn't bemoaning that she had forever lost her chance at her dream restaurant, she was worried about how her current frog state would affect her mother. Not how it would affect _her._

"I am sorry, Tiana," he said softly, hopping back up to her and putting his arms around her again. She had moved away from him presumably because she wanted to be alone, but he couldn't see her so heartbroken and just sit and watch. "This is all my fault."

"It _is _all your fault," Tiana said back harshly, but then she giggled a little and smiled at him, stroking his face with her slender frog fingers.

Naveen smiled too. "So you are not mad at me then?"

"Only a little, your royal highness." Her smile grew softer as his hand reached up to touch her face. "I'm so glad you're here," she murmured. "If anyone could making spending the rest of your life a frog appealing, it'd be you."

"I assure you, it would be a dark and scary prospect without you," said Naveen, gently caressing her cheek.

They gazed at each other for a few moments that seemed to last eons.

"How did this even happen?" Tiana asked softly, leaning in closer to Naveen. She had never been like Charlotte, waiting for some perfect man to come along and make her life somehow amazing and a dream come true. Not only was it just a silly, naïve idea, Tiana simply didn't have space in her life, both her current life and her plans for the future, for love. Or so she thought. Funny how a few days and an egotistical, lazy, playful, intelligent, completely and totally sensitive prince-turned-frog could change things.

Naveen's thoughts as he looked into Tiana's eyes were along the same path. Oh sure, so he had enjoyed the company of other women before. But they were all alike to his memory; he had liked them because they were women. Tiana, on the other hand, he liked for being _Tiana. _Such a strange, subtle difference that the idea would have boggled him before meeting her. It still boggled him a little bit, truthfully. It was surprising enough that he had fallen in love in the first place. But why, of all the women in the world, had his heart chosen _her? _But oh, was he glad it had.

"I have no idea," he answered her, his hand now moving to her mouth and tracing its outline. "But I'm—" His sentence got cut off as he suddenly yawned deeply. "—glad it did."

"Am I really that boring?" Tiana asked playfully.

"On the contrary, you're the only reason I'm still awake." He unsuccessfully attempted to stifle his second yawn. "But I am _exhausted."_

"So am I," Tiana admitted. She looked over to a small overhang of leaves protruding from a tree, creating a small sheltered area next to the trunk. "That looks like a good place to sleep."

The two sleepy frogs wearily hopped their way over to the side of the tree and both collapsed, Tiana rather clumsily falling on top of Naveen with a shudder.

Naveen sighed too, but there was a slight irritation detectable in his. "Tiana, my love, I never thought I'd actually ever say this, but… not tonight, I'm too tired."

Tiana rolled her eyes, but had an amused smile on her face as well. "That wasn't a come-on, Naveen."

"…Oh. Right. I knew that."

Tiana snuggled against Naveen's side and closed her eyes. "Good night, my prince."

Naveen sighed again, this time in complete contentment. "Sleep well, my Evangeline…"

Soon they were both fast asleep in each other's arms.

…………

Tiana woke with a start early that morning, the sun only just barely starting to rise and filter light through the bayou. Terrifying dreams had made her sleep restless, even though now that she was awake she couldn't even remember what they had been about. Taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself, she looked around her to find herself alone.

"Naveen?" she called out.

No, actually, she wasn't quite alone. The large form of a slumbering Louis was curled up next to an adjacent tree, but the sound of Tiana's voice woke him up. "Huh? What?"

"Louis, do you know where Naveen is?" Tiana asked.

"No, I've been asleep this whole…" And the sleepy gator apparently didn't have enough energy in him to finish even that thought. He fell back asleep with the sentence left only half-stated.

Tiana stood up and hopped closer to the water's edge and on top of a fallen tree branch in order to get a better view of her surroundings. "Naveen?" she called out again, frantically looking in all directions.

No answer.

"Naveen, where are you?" A note of panic was quickly rising in her voice. Had something happened to him? Had he actually _left _her, God forbid? As unappealing the prospect of remaining a frog for the rest of her life was, with Naveen with her it hadn't seemed so bad… in fact, it hadn't seemed like anything at all. But without him, it was… well, the loneliness and despair she had felt just last night in the cemetery were coming back to haunt her.

"Tiana? What are you doing up so early?"

Tiana jumped around in shock to see Naveen hopping up right behind her, and she had to fight both the conflicting urges to hug him and slap him. "Naveen, for God's sake, are you trying to kill me? I thought something happed to you! Next time let me know before you go hopping off!"

"And wake you up in the middle of the night to let you know I'll just be gone for awhile? I thought you'd still be asleep—"

"The middle of the night?"

"Well… early morning, actually…"

"Just where have you been, anyway?"

Naveen fidgeted nervously, and Tiana noticed that his hands were behind his back. "Well… actually, I was out looking for, um, well I wasn't really sure what exactly I was looking for until I found it, but—"

"Let me see it," said Tiana.

Naveen hesitated. "See… it?"

"Whatever it is behind your back." Tiana finally let herself smile, in relief at Naveen's presence and safety more than anything else. "Whatever it is, it had better be a good excuse for you scaring me to death."

"Well… actually, it's…" Smiling sheepishly, Naveen opened his hand to reveal a small, round, polished pebble with a leaf both tied around it and looped on the other end.

"A pebble." Tiana raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. —No, no, it is not _just _a pebble, it's an—" Naveen suddenly and awkwardly got down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"

Tiana gasped in surprise. "An… an _engagement… _pebble…"

"I did have a ring, on the riverboat—okay, so it was not a ring exactly, but it was closer than this—but I lost it, so I tried to find something else that could work, and—I am talking to much, aren't I?"

Normally Tiana would have made a biting remark in response to that, but the wave of shock coupled with a million emotions silenced her; all she could dp was tremble and smile in love and disbelief. "You… you really _did _want me…"

"I did! I _do! _I…" He took her hands in his and looked up at her in earnest. "You were right last night, this _is _all my fault. I wanted to make you happy and give you everything you've ever dreamed of, but all I did was condemn you to live the rest of your life as a frog. I don't know what else I can do for you, and maybe I'll just keep making things worse, but… perhaps I am just being selfish, but I love you, and… and I can't imagine life without you, either as a human or as a frog. So…" He looked back at the makeshift engagement ring and sighed deeply. "I realize that this is not exactly, entirely, the most adequate engagement ring, and I had planned… before… to get you a proper one when we were both human, and I wish I could now, because you deserve a proper ring, but…" He sighed again. "I'm not so great at this whole proposing business."

Tiana wiped a tear from her eye, still trembling with emotion. There was some tiny, logical part in her body hissing at her, _you can't marry someone you've only known for a few days. _And yes, it _did _seem ridiculous when she put it that way. But this whole circumstance of being stuck in a frog's body for the rest of her life was equally as ridiculous, and yet it was also the truth. And what _else _was the truth was that she, too, couldn't imagine life without him, no matter what species she was. Besides, if she really did have only a few years left to live, she had to make every moment count… and why wait for what her heart was already completely sure of? She wanted him, she _needed _him, she _loved _him; and as such, there had never really been any dilemma or doubt in her mind at all.

"Oh, Naveen," she murmured, squeezing his hands affectionately, "of _course _I'll marry you."

"You will? You will!" Naveen's entire body lit up with joy. "Tiana, Tiana, you have made me so, so—oh, wait, let's make this official!" He took the ersatz ring and slid it on her finger…

…and the weight of the pebble was too much for the leaf to keep it on said finger. No sooner did he let go of it did the pebble fall from Tiana's finger, leaving only a bit of leaf tied to it.

Tiana and Naveen both stared at where the pebble had dropped to the ground.

"…oops," Naveen said abashedly.

Tiana giggled. "We don't need a ring to make it official," she said. She leaned down closer to him, but with a slight hesitation—she wanted to be physically affectionate, but she really had no idea _how, _and if what Naveen had told her about his dating numerous women in the past was true (and she certainly believed it), he was going to _know _how inexperienced she was. The prospect of kissing was actually a little terrifying to her, especially kissing someone who clearly had lots of experience in the matter. She'd never kissed or been kissed before, ever—well, besides her kissing Naveen that had gotten her into this situation in the first place, but that hardly counted.

Her kiss this time, then, was short, unsure, but still tender… she hoped? She pulled away from him quickly and blushed, feeling awkward and embarrassed.

Naveen smiled. "That was weak."

Tiana blushed even deeper. "I've never really…"

Naveen stood up and suddenly gathered Tiana in his arms. "Here's how it's done," he said, touching a hand to her face, pulling her even closer to him, and enveloping her in a deep, gentle kiss.

Tiana forgot to feel awkward or inexperienced—in fact, she forgot to feel anything. Naveen had told her that all women enjoyed his kisses, and experiencing this, wow, how _couldn't _they?

He pulled away from the kiss… but a trail of mucus clung to both their lips.

Laughing awkwardly, Naveen brushed it away. "Well, that was…"

"…_disgusting!" _laughed Tiana.

"I'm glad you were the one to say it!" Naveen grinned. "I think I can get used to it, though."

Tiana smiled too, feeling the small strip of leaf still tied to her finger. "Can… can frogs even _get _married?" she asked.

"'_Course they can!"_

Tiana and Naveen both jumped in surprise and stared at the source of the voice, who had suddenly appeared standing beside them.

"_Mama Odie?" _they both asked in confusion.

"What kind of question _is _that, anyway?" Mama Odie continued, her hands on her hips with a look of annoyance. "Y'all can talk, can't you? And think, and love? Ain't those the only requirements for gettin' married?"

"How did you find us?" Tiana asked.

Mama Odie grinned. "Followed a star, Miss Froggy! A li'l firefly told me where to go!"

"Ray?" Tiana felt a huge grin appear on her face.

"Who else?" Mama Odie said with a smirk. "But enough of that. Where that jabber jawed gator at?" But without waiting for an answer, she immediately found where Louis was still sleeping and gave him a quick jab with her foot. "Wake up!"

"Aaah! I didn't do it!" Louis shrieked.

"But you goin' to!" Mama Odie said, somehow pushing the huge gator to her right. "You help get the bridegroom ready, jabber jaws!"

"The bridegroom?" Louis asked in confusion.

"Whoa, wait a minute, we're getting married _now?" _Tiana asked.

"And who's marrying us?" Naveen asked.

"I am, who'd you think?" Mama Odie sighed and pushed Naveen towards Louis. "Have t' tell y'all _everything…" _With Louis and Naveen off to one side, Mama Odie turned her attention to Tiana. "Now you, Miss Froggy, got some _very _eager and helpful firefly attendants waitin' just right over there!" She gave Tiana a gentle push to her left, where Ray's family was hovering around eagerly, a delicate veil made from small white lilies waiting for her.

"They really _are _eager," said Tiana with surprise, as two of them flew above her and gingerly placed the veil over her head.

"Whoops! One more thing, sugar!" One of Ray's firefly cousins zipped off and quickly reappeared with a larger water lily, perfectly symmetrical and in full bloom, and placed it in Tiana's arms. "Y'all can't get married wichout a _boo-_kay!" she said with a laugh.

Tiana giggled. "Thank you."

Meanwhile, Louis, who hadn't had the advance warning that the fireflies presumably had, was at a loss of what to do with Naveen. "Ya know, even if I had ever seen a wedding before and knew what y'all do in them, I still don't think I had much time to prepare for this!"

"You and me both, brother!" Naveen said, looking a bit overwhelmed himself. "Um, maybe we should…"

"_Ahem." _A small white butterfly perched on a branch next to them cleared its throat impatiently. "Might I be of assistance?"

"Oh, yes!" said Naveen enthusiastically, recognizing a helpful bowtie when he saw one. He reached out to grab it—

"Hold on, your highness!" Louis interrupted, snatching the butterfly before Naveen could get to it. "Mama Odie told me to help and that's what I'm gonna do!" He quickly set the butterfly on Naveen's neck… the butterfly only a little crushed from the huge gator's sudden grasp.

"Ouch," it muttered.

"Sorry," said Louis.

"Y'all ready or what?" Mama Odie snapped impatiently. "I ain't got all day!"

"I'm ready… I think, anyway," Naveen said, adjusting his butterfly bowtie and looking to his side.

"So am I," came a soft voice.

The crowd of fireflies parted.

"…Wow," Naveen breathed.

The morning's light was now shining clearly through the trees of the bayou, illuminating Tiana on her perch on a lily pad, the water around her sparkling from the sunlight and from the light reflected off her skin.

Tiana clutched her bouquet close to her and smiled lovingly at her groom.

"Let's hop to it, Miss Froggy!" Mama Odie picked up Tiana and gently placed her next to Naveen in a bed of flowers. "We ain't gettin' any younger here!"

Naveen reached out and took Tiana's hand. "You look beautiful," he murmured.

Tiana's smile grew warmer. "You ain't so bad yourself."

"This is all happening very quickly…"

Tiana shrugged. "Why wait?"

Naveen smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Why indeed?" said Mama Odie with a chuckle. "Now then. Dearly beloved and all assorted critters of the bayou—" for a crowd of curious animals had gathered around to see what was going on— "we are gathered here today to join this frog and this frog-ette in holy matrimony. If anyone objects to this union, get your li'l behind outta here pronto." She leaned down to face Naveen. "Prince Naveen, do you take this frog to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold 'til death do you part and all that jazz?"

"I do… and all that jazz." Naveen smiled at Tiana, playfully and tenderly.

"I should hope so! Now, Miss Froggy, do you, Tiana, take this frog to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold and everything that goes along with havin' a lawfully wedded husband, you know the drill?"

Tiana giggled. "I sure do, Mama Odie. I mean, I do know the drill, and I _do… _take him for my husband."

"You'd _better! _And so, by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you frog and wife!" She too had a huge grin on her face. "Now get to it!" she said to Naveen. "Give your lovely bride some sugar!"

"Congratulations," said the butterfly bowtie before flying off.

Tiana and Naveen gazed gently at each other, Tiana giving him a shy smile. Suddenly now she wasn't worried if she somehow didn't kiss him right, or whatever… it didn't matter anymore. Nothing else mattered other than the fact that he was her husband, and she was his wife, and nothing they did together could ever be wrong.

They kissed.

As right as their previous kiss had felt, this one felt a thousand times more perfect. Holding each other close, nothing else in the world even existed to them. They were floating, floating in an ethereal bliss, not even feeling their feet touching the ground. There was light, and there was each other, and there was nothing else.

Finally it felt as though they touched the ground, and they pulled away from the kiss and opened their eyes… and jumped back in shock.

They were _human!_

Mama Odie laughed as they stared at each other, themselves, tugging at their clothes and trying to make sense of their happy transformation. "Like I told you," she said, "kissin' a princess breaks the spell!"

Tiana looked at Naveen in confusion.

Naveen's eyes grew wide. "Once you became… my wife, that made you—"

"—a princess!" Tiana exclaimed, suddenly understanding. She playfully leaned in closer to Naveen and touched his chest. "You just kissed yourself a princess!"

Naveen cradled Tiana's chin in his hand—his now human hand, one that _wasn't _covered in mucus and was soft to the touch. "And… I'm about to do it again."

Tiana needed no further prodding. They pulled each other close and kissed again, to the cheers of their audience.

Naveen swooped Tiana in the air, pulling apart from the kiss to laugh in sheer delight. "Am I glad we didn't wait!" he said.

"No sense in wasting a minute!" Tiana laughed as well, unable to take her eyes off of her husband. "Now we've got a full lifetime together and I want every second of it to count!"

"It will, it will! You are a princess now, and I will make sure everyone knows it! And I will get you anything and everything you've ever dreamed of, and I will try to help you, and hopefully this time I will be successful—"

Tiana touched his lips, silencing him. "You already have, Naveen, more than you even know!"

"_Achidanza! _You are _perfect!" _Naveen swung Tiana in the air again before bringing her back down for another kiss. "Come, we must go back to New Orleans and get you your restaurant and tell your mother you're alright and—"

"Oh wow, can't wait to see her reaction to _this!" _laughed Tiana.

"That's nothing, _my _parents are going to be the shocked ones! Come on! Let's go!"

Tiana took Naveen's hand and the two newlyweds ran through the bayou, laughing, jumping over logs, hardly even looking at the path in front of them, instead still unable to take their eyes off each other.

They had a whole lifetime ahead of them. A lifetime of dreams and goals, of happiness and bliss. Both knew, even in the glow of being newly wed and newly human, that life might not always be easy, even for a prince and princess…

…but nothing they did together could ever be wrong.


End file.
